The African Export-Import Bank, Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund and the 24-Hour Economy (24H) have signed a joint project preparation facility (JPPF) framework agreement to accelerate the preparation of priority projects.

Afreximbank, in a statement on Friday in Cairo, Egypt, said its executive vice president, Intra-African Trade and Export Development, Kanayo Awani; the GIIF Chief Executive Officer, Nana Dwemoh Benneh; and Presidential Adviser on the 24-Hour Economy and the Accelerated Export Development, Augustus Obuadum Tanoh, signed the agreement.

Afreximbank said the wider 24H+ investment pipeline is approximately $11.5 billion, adding that the “PPF will support selected priority projects in the pipeline, subject to joint screening and approval. 

“Afreximbank and GIIF will pilot the intervention, with each making an initial contribution of $5 million to finance eligible technical, financial, legal and advisory work needed to resolve bankability constraints and structure projects for financing.”

The tripartite arrangement will also see 24H bring forward strategic projects and coordinate government stakeholders, with the GIIF contributing local origination and infrastructure-investment capability, and Afreximbank providing project-preparation and capital-mobilisation expertise, while all parties will jointly screen and prioritise projects.

It also stated that the JPPF will focus on energy and infrastructure; logistics and digital connectivity; industrial parks; manufacturing and agro-processing; minerals beneficiation; tourism; the creative industries; and healthcare.

Additionally, the JPPF includes a structured institutional-development component for GIIF, comprising training, knowledge transfer, capacity building and staff secondments, targeted at deepening GIIF’s in-house capacity to originate, structure and manage future project pipelines.

Speaking about the framework agreement, Ms Awani said, “This JPPF will play a catalytic role in translating Ghana’s 24H+ vision into projects that attract capital, expand exports and create jobs. 

“By combining Afreximbank’s project-development and capital-mobilisation expertise, GIIF’s local investment capability and the 24-Hour Economy Authority’s coordinating mandate, we will accelerate priority projects, strengthen Ghanaian project preparation capacity and build a sustained pipeline of investment-ready transactions.”

Ms Awani said the partnership would address Ghana’s trade-enabling infrastructure and industrialisation gaps by combining project origination, technical advisory services and co-financing of preparation costs, with the intention of producing investment-ready projects capable of attracting significant private capital.

Also speaking, Mr Benneh said, “The partnership reinforces GIIF’s role as an infrastructure finance partner to the 24-Hour Economy and strengthens our ability to advance priority projects from concept to investment readiness. 

“Beyond the $10 million commitment to project preparation, a key value of the JPPF is its capacity-building component, which will provide GIIF with access to Afreximbank’s extensive project preparation expertise through training, knowledge transfer, and staff secondments. 

“This will deepen our in-house capabilities to identify, structure, and prepare bankable projects and enhance institutional capacity and self-reliance, enabling the development of a strong pipeline of investment-ready projects capable of attracting private capital and supporting Ghana’s long-term infrastructure and economic transformation.”

On his part, Mr Tanoh noted that “The 24H+ Programme is delivered through transformational projects, and a project attracts capital only when it is properly prepared. This Facility will help translate Ghana’s development priorities into well-structured, bankable projects that expand productive capacity, improve workforce productivity, increase exports and create sustainable jobs. 

“We will bring our priority projects in energy, agro-industry, manufacturing and logistics to the Facility, and we are confident that, working with Afreximbank and GIIF, we will take them from concept to construction and deliver tangible opportunities for Ghanaians.”

Ghana’s 24H+ Programme is structured around eight interconnected pillars spanning agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure, the creative industries and tourism, logistics, finance, skills and national mobilisation.

Afreximbank explained that by converting 24H+ priorities into investment-ready projects, the JPPF will accelerate Ghana’s transformation into a competitive production and export hub and deepen its integration into the African Continental Free Trade Area.